Method for manufacturing oxide semiconductor device

• US 8,420,441 B2
• Filed: 07/29/2010
• Issued: 04/16/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Yamazaki, Shunpei, Sakata, Junichiro, Ohara, Hiroki, Kuwabara, Hideaki
• Primary Examiner(s): YUSHIN, NIKOLAY K
• Application Number:
  US12/846,585
• Publication Number:
  US 20110037068A1
• Time in Patent Office: 992 Days
• Field of Search: 438/104, 438/149, 438/156, 438/142, 438/165, 438/431
• US Class Current: 438/104
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/163 Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02614 Transformation of metal, e.g. oxidation, nitridation
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/1218 with a particular composition or structure of the substrate
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/1222 with a particular composition, shape or crystalline structure of the active layer
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/1225 with semiconductor materials not belonging to the group IV of the periodic table, e.g. InGaZnO
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/04 characterised by their crystalline structure, e.g. polycrystalline, cubic or particular orientation of crystalline planes characterised by physical imperfections H01L29/30
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/24 including, apart from doping materials or other impurities, only semiconductor materials not provided for in groups H01L29/16, H01L29/18, H01L29/20, H01L29/22 including organic materials H10K99/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/66969 of devices having semiconductor bodies not comprising group 14 or group 13/15 materials comprising selenium or tellurium in uncombined form other than as impurities in semiconductor bodies of other materials, comprising cuprous oxide or cuprous iodide H01L21/02365
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/78603 characterised by the insulating substrate or support H01L29/78657 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/7869 having a semiconductor body comprising an oxide semiconductor material, e.g. zinc oxide, copper aluminium oxide, cadmium stannate
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/78696 characterised by the structure of the channel, e.g. multichannel, transverse or longitudinal shape, length or width, doping structure, or the overlap or alignment between the channel and the gate, the source or the drain, or the contacting structure of the channel H01L29/78612 takes precedence; transistors having a drain offset region or a lightly doped drain [LDD] H01L29/78621
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/16 Circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/1213 the pixel elements being TFTs

Abstract

One object is to provide a semiconductor device with a structure which enables reduction in parasitic capacitance sufficiently between wirings. In a bottom-gate type thin film transistor including a stacked layer of a first layer which is a metal thin film oxidized partly or entirely and an oxide semiconductor layer, the following oxide insulating layers are formed together: an oxide insulating layer serving as a channel protective layer which is over and in contact with a part of the oxide semiconductor layer overlapping with a gate electrode layer; and an oxide insulating layer which covers a peripheral portion and a side surface of the stacked oxide semiconductor layer.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising the steps of:

forming a gate electrode layer;

forming a gate insulating layer over the gate electrode layer;

forming a metal thin film over the gate insulating layer;

forming an oxide semiconductor layer over the metal thin film;

heating the metal thin film and the oxide semiconductor layer wherein the metal thin film is oxidized entirely;

forming an oxide insulating layer in contact with a part of the oxide semiconductor layer and covering a peripheral portion and a side surface of the oxide semiconductor layer; and

forming a source electrode layer and a drain electrode layer over the oxide insulating layer.

2. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1,

wherein the oxide semiconductor layer is not exposed to air between the step of heating the oxide semiconductor layer and the step of forming the oxide insulating layer.

3. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1, further comprising a step of forming a protective insulating layer which is in contact with the oxide insulating layer, the source electrode layer, the drain electrode layer, and the oxide semiconductor layer,

wherein the protective insulating layer is a silicon nitride film or an aluminum nitride film formed by a sputtering method.

5. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1 or 4, wherein the side surface of the oxide semiconductor layer and a side surface of the oxidized metal thin film are overlapped with the source electrode layer or the drain electrode layer with the oxide insulating layer interposed therebetween.

6. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1 or 4, wherein the semiconductor device comprises a wiring intersection of a gate wiring layer and a source wiring layer over a substrate,

wherein the gate wiring layer has a same potential as the gate electrode layer,

wherein the source wiring layer has a same potential as the source electrode layer, and

wherein the gate insulating layer and the oxide insulating layer are provided between the gate wiring layer and the source wiring layer in the wiring intersection.

7. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1 or 4, wherein the oxide insulating layer is formed by a sputtering method.

10. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1 or 4, wherein a width in a channel length direction of the gate electrode layer is smaller than a width in the channel length direction of the oxide semiconductor layer.

11. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1 or 4,

wherein a width in a channel length direction of the gate electrode layer is larger than a width in the channel length direction of the oxide semiconductor layer, and

wherein a side surface of the gate electrode layer overlaps with the source electrode layer or the drain electrode layer with the gate insulating layer and the oxide insulating layer interposed therebetween.

12. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1 or 4, wherein the source electrode layer and the drain electrode layer are formed using any one of indium oxide, an alloy of indium oxide and tin oxide, an alloy of indium oxide and zinc oxide, and zinc oxide.

13. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1 or 4, wherein the oxide insulating layer is a silicon oxide film or an aluminum oxide film formed by a sputtering method.

14. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1 or 4, wherein the metal thin film is formed using any one of indium, zinc, tin, molybdenum, and tungsten.

4. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising the steps of:

forming a gate electrode layer;

forming a gate insulating layer over the gate electrode layer;

forming a metal thin film over the gate insulating layer;

forming an oxide semiconductor layer over the metal thin film;

dehydrating or dehydrogenating the oxide semiconductor layer and oxidizing the metal thin film entirely;

forming an oxide insulating layer which is in contact with a part of the oxide semiconductor layer and covers a peripheral portion and a side surface of the oxide semiconductor layer;

forming a source electrode layer and a drain electrode layer over the oxide insulating layer; and

forming a protective insulating layer which is in contact with the oxide insulating layer, the source electrode layer, the drain electrode layer, and the oxide semiconductor layer.

8. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 4,

wherein the oxide semiconductor layer is not exposed to air between the step of dehydrating or dehydrogenating the oxide semiconductor layer and the step of forming the oxide insulating layer.

9. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 4,

wherein the protective insulating layer is a silicon nitride film or an aluminum nitride film formed by a sputtering method.

15. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising the steps of:

forming a gate electrode layer;

forming a gate insulating layer over the gate electrode layer;

forming a metal thin film over the gate insulating layer;

forming an oxide semiconductor layer over the metal thin film;

patterning together the oxide semiconductor layer and the metal thin film;

heating the metal thin film and the oxide semiconductor layer wherein the metal thin film is oxidized at least partly;

forming an oxide insulating layer in contact with a part of the oxide semiconductor layer and covering a peripheral portion and a side surface of the oxide semiconductor layer; and

forming a source electrode layer and a drain electrode layer over the oxide insulating layer.

16. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 15, wherein the source electrode layer and the drain electrode layer are formed using any one of indium oxide, an alloy of indium oxide and tin oxide, an alloy of indium oxide and zinc oxide, and zinc oxide.

17. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 15, wherein the oxide insulating layer is a silicon oxide film or an aluminum oxide film.

18. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 15, wherein the metal thin film is formed using any one of indium, zinc, tin, molybdenum, and tungsten.

19. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 15, further comprising a step of forming a protective insulating layer which is in contact with the oxide insulating layer, the source electrode layer, the drain electrode layer, and the oxide semiconductor layer.

20. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 19, wherein the protective insulating layer is a silicon nitride film or an aluminum nitride film.

21. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising the steps of:

forming a gate electrode layer;

forming a gate insulating layer over the gate electrode layer;

forming a metal thin film over the gate insulating layer;

forming an oxide semiconductor layer over the metal thin film;

heating the metal thin film and the oxide semiconductor layer wherein the metal thin film is oxidized at least partly;

forming an oxide insulating layer in contact with a part of the oxide semiconductor layer and covering a peripheral portion and a side surface of the oxide semiconductor layer;

forming an opening in the oxide insulating layer so as to expose a part of the oxide semiconductor layer; and

forming an electrode electrically connected to the oxide semiconductor layer in the opening.

22. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 21, wherein the electrode is formed using any one of indium oxide, an alloy of indium oxide and tin oxide, an alloy of indium oxide and zinc oxide, and zinc oxide.

23. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 21, wherein the oxide insulating layer is a silicon oxide film or an aluminum oxide film.

24. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 21, wherein the metal thin film is formed using any one of indium, zinc, tin, molybdenum, and tungsten.

25. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 21, further comprising a step of forming a protective insulating layer which is in contact with the oxide insulating layer, the electrode, and the oxide semiconductor layer.

26. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 25, wherein the protective insulating layer is a silicon nitride film or an aluminum nitride film.

27. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising the steps of:

forming a gate electrode layer;

forming a gate insulating layer over the gate electrode layer;

forming a metal thin film over the gate insulating layer;

forming an oxide semiconductor layer over the metal thin film;

heating the metal thin film and the oxide semiconductor layer wherein the metal thin film is oxidized at least partly;

forming a first insulating layer in contact with a part of the oxide semiconductor layer, wherein the first insulating layer includes oxide compound materials; and

forming a second insulating layer over the first insulating layer, wherein the second insulating layer includes nitride compound materials different from the oxide compound materials of the first insulating layer.

28. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 27, wherein the metal thin film is formed using any one of indium, zinc, tin, molybdenum, and tungsten.